No way should he be paid a third more than Steve Weber, especially in this economy.
86% (878)

You have to pay to get the best, and SDSU deserves it.
14% (143)

Over the objection of Gov. Jerry Brown, trustees of the California State University system voted Tuesday to make Elliot Hirshman, the new president of San Diego State University, the highest paid president in the 23-campus system.

The CSU Board of Trustees also voted to raise tuition by 12 percent.

Hirshman, whose first day on the job was July 5, will be paid $350,000 in state funds and $50,000 from the university’s nonprofit fundraising arm.

The trustees’ approval of Hirshman’s pay package came despite a letter from the governor sent Tuesday morning to Herbert Carter, the board chairman. In the letter, Brown noted that the state, including the CSU system, is struggling with huge recession-related budget cuts.

“It is in this context, and prompted by the salary decision that you are about to make today, that I write to express my concern about the ever-escalating pay packages awarded to your top administrators,” Brown wrote. “I fear your approach to compensation is setting a pattern for public service that we cannot afford.”

The trustees, meeting in Long Beach, approved Hirshman’s salary on a 12-3 vote. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, an ex officio member of the board, was one of those opposed. He noted that many people around the state would be angered by the juxtaposition of the pay package and the tuition hikes.

“I just feel we are making mistakes today,” he said.

Two other trustees, Pete Mehas and Melinda Guzman, briefly defended Hirshman’s deal, citing the complexity of running a major university and the salaries that other university presidents around the country are paid.

“I am not going to be apologetic,” Mehas said.

The trustees did not entirely ignore Brown’s letter. Carter, who was reappointed by the governor earlier this year, addressed it, saying he would create a committee to study the selection and compensation of CSU presidents and have the committee report back to the board at its September meeting. He did not suggest altering Hirshman’s pay package.

“He said that as a matter of commitment we have to move forward,” said Mike Uhlenkamp, CSU spokesman.

Hirshman, through a spokeswoman, declined to comment.

Brown, who is an ex officio member of the board, did not attend the meeting.

CSU officials and others have previously said that Hirshman’s proposed pay is in line with what other major university presidents earn.

To bolster that position, they point to a 2010 CSU-commissioned study by the Mercer consulting firm that concluded that CSU campus presidents’ total average cash compensation of $292,830 lags the average of a survey group of 15 public and five private universities across the country by 52 percent.

Total cash compensation for the top leader at those schools averaged $444,556, according to the study.

Hirshman’s predecessor, Stephen Weber, was paid about $300,000.

“I have reviewed the Mercer compensation study and have reflected on its market preferences, which provide the justification for your proposed salary boost of more than $100,000,” Brown wrote in the letter, which did not mention Hirshman by name. “The assumption is that you cannot find a qualified man or woman to lead the university unless paid twice that ﻿of the chief justice of the United States. I reject this notion.”